Conference Frankfurt

Strong participation, great diversity and productive dialogue at the We’ll Come United conference

Around 350 activists from numerous cities and groups took part in the anti-racist conference hosted by the We’ll Come United network in Frankfurt from 26 to 28 April.

In two plenary sessions, current struggles against the EU border regime were presented and discussed and the background to flight and migration was addressed.

 

The great diversity of anti-racist initiatives and everyday projects that came together in Frankfurt was reflected in 28 workshops prepared by various decentralised groups.

At the end of the conference, there was broad consensus that these three days had been a productive exchange in a respectful atmosphere.

 

The results and agreements from the workshops will be compiled in the coming days and published on the We’ll Come United website soon.

Contact addresses for the various topics can already be found in the conference reader.

 

“Migrantifa” not protected as a trademark

 

Credit Protestfotografie Frankfurt

Register left-wing political terms as trade marks and cash in – that’s what an entrepreneur from Warburg thought. He applied for Europe-wide trade mark protection for the term ‘Migrantifa’, which has been used by anti-racist initiatives for years to express solidarity with refugees and anti-racism.

The trade mark was registered with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 2021. In October 2022, represented by a lawyer, he wrote to the association Clandestini e.V. from Darmstadt about an alleged trade mark infringement; this association had sold T-shirts with the inscription ‘MIGRANTIFA’ to finance the anti-racist alliance ‘We’ll Come United’, among other things. In his lawyer’s letter, the trade mark owner made it very clear what he was after: The payment of licence fees.

The association refused to be intimidated and applied to the EUIPO for the trade mark to be declared invalid. The authority now followed suit and ruled that the registered term lacked any distinctive character. ‘Migrantifa’ is understood ‘as a purely (socio-)political statement’.
‘The procedure of turning political terms into money through trade mark law is an attack on our political work. We have resolutely opposed this – with success,’ explains Rola Saleh from the “We’ll Come United” network. ‘Migrantifa stands for a movement with the aim of building a solidary, anti-racist and anti-fascist society together. The decision is an important step against the instrumentalisation of our terms for private gain.’

Lawyer Dr Jasper Prigge, who is representing the association in the proceedings before the EUIPO, emphasises: ‘Trade marks cannot be used to monopolise political terms. Anyone attempting to enrich themselves from political movements must expect those affected to defend themselves. In addition to the registration costs, the trade mark owner now has to bear the costs of the invalidity proceedings. All in all, not a good deal. The EUIPO’s decision is not yet final and the trade mark owner can lodge an appeal.

The cancellation decision of the EUIPO is published in anonymised form under the following link:

https://www.prigge-recht.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Migrantifa_anonymisiert.pdf

Welcome to the We’ll Come United Conference in Frankfurt from April 26 to 28 2024 in Frankfurt

in Studierendenhaus in Frankfurt-Bockenheim

Mertonstraße 26, 60325 Frankfurt am Main

Program brochure →

We are delighted that over 350 people have registered for the WCU conference in Frankfurt. We hope to spend three days together with intensive exchange and inspiring discussions.

To the programme
Over 25 workshops
As you could already see in the preliminary announcement, we have opted for a diverse and »decentralised« programme. There are more than 25 workshops prepared by different groups and networks. In this reader you will find brief descriptions and contacts for each of them. Most of the working groups last »only« 90 minutes and everyone should make sure to start and finish on time so that there are no delays in the subsequent sessions.

Translations
For the large meeting room (i.e. for the two panels and the final plenary session) and for three other working group rooms, we have translation equipment for simultaneous translation using small radios. For other rooms we have so-called spiders, which enable translations for smaller groups. The BLA and Interprise collectives are supporting us at the conference. But we also need the support and patience of all participants so that everyone can speak in their own languages. Please get in touch at the Info-Point if you can help with translating.

Rooms/Meeting-Spaces
The Studierendenhaus is our central conference building. On the ground floor is the Koz, where drinks and food are available (also outside). On the first floor there is a corridor with various information tables and the large meeting room where the two panels, working groups and the final plenary session will take place. We also have three smaller rooms for working groups in this building. If it doesn’t rain and hopefully gets a bit warmer again, we could also make good use of the extensive campus grounds. Only about 500 metres away from the Student House – on Beethovenplatz – is the Christuskirche, where we have 2 to 3 more working group rooms. Also about 500 metres away – at Leipziger Straße 17 – is the Hessian Refugee Council. Working groups can also take place here.

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We’ll Come United Summer Camp 2024 in Thuringia

For August of this year 2024 we are planning a summer camp for 150 people in the Waltershausen community (www.kommune-kowa.de) in Thuringia. From Wednesday, August 21st to Sunday, August 25th, we want to come together to dedicate ourselves to a common culture of anti-racist resistance. In discussions and exchanges on everyday anti-racist struggles, in encounters and in the celebration of our resistance, we make We’ll Come United a living process of mutual encouragement and empowerment. In Thuringia, locally, nationwide and across Europe.

Further information about registration and the program will follow shortly. Stay tuned!

Contact: wcu_jena@riseup.net